Roman Holiday (1953)

Hugely charming romantic comedy.

Audrey Hepburn plays a princess from an unnamed country, who has a stifling life of rigid routine and protocol. While on a royal visit to Rome, she escapes her palace security in search of adventure. She meets an American journalist (Gregory Peck), who aims to write up the story and exploit it for money. But inevitably the pair fall in love. 

It’s very funny in places but it’s also tender and touching. Initially light and frothy, it acquires real emotional depth in its later stages – especially since you realise it can’t offer a simplistic happy ending.

Arabesque (1966)

Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren star in a silly comedy thriller about an archaeology professor thrust into a criminal adventure when tasked with decoding some ancient hieroglyphs.

It’s shot in an inventive way, with the use of mirrors and reflections, plus strange angles and vantage points. There’s a great scene in which a drugged Peck weaves in and out of motorway traffic, with the film rendering his altered perception. 

The problem is that it’s just not very entertaining. The parts played for comedy simply aren’t funny. The script is poor, and – other than Peck and Loren – the acting is woeful. Worst of all, the villain (played by a hammy Alan Badel) is absolutely awful.

Would I watch it again? Absolutely not.

Pork Chop Hill (1959)

During the Korean War, Lieutenant Joe Clemons (Gregory Peck) leads a regiment to capture and hold Pork Chop Hill for the Americans. Casualties are heavy and supplies are dwindling. Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations are underway and the battle may be called off – despite all those men apparently dying for nothing.

Peck has a compelling authority, as always, but overall the film is low on dramatic tension. There’s a lack of context that means questions go unanswered about the strategic value of the battle. In some ways that’s the point – it may be an entirely insignificant conflict that cost so many lives. 

George Peppard and Harry Dean Stanton appear in minor roles, although I didn’t even recognise the former.

Disappointing all round.

Cape Fear (1962)

Terrifying thriller. Robert Mitchum plays a bitter, crazed ex-con who tracks down the lawyer (Gregory Peck) who sent him to prison, then begins to stalk and terrorise him and his family. 

It’s highly suspenseful, pretty much from beginning to end, and the two leads are both ideal for the parts. Mitchum has just the right amount of wry, amused cool and psychopathic edginess. Peck is perfect as his stiff, somewhat uptight opposite. Polly Bergen and Lori Martin are both compelling as the wife and daughter who quickly get pulled into the escalating drama. And Telly Savalas (with hair) is likeable as the private detective. 

It’s edge-of-the-seat stuff and I like the way the somewhat downbeat closing seconds get you thinking.

Spellbound (1945)

Alfred Hitchcock thriller that unfortunately doesn’t rank up there with his best work. 

The new head of Green Manors, a Vermont-based mental asylum (Gregory Peck) turns out to be an imposter and possibly a dangerous killer. But psychoanalyst Dr. Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) falls in love with him and wants to unpick the mysteries of his past to clear his name.

It’s stylish and visually intriguing, like all of Hitchcock’s work. There’s plenty of tension and excitement, too, but the plot suffers because it hinges – somewhat ridiculously – on the interpretation of a dream. The dream itself was devised by Salvador Dalí and is full of that artist’s familiar imagery. 

Peck seems a little wooden, but Bergman is terrific.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Brilliant adaptation of the Harper Lee novel. A seductively appealing small-town atmosphere turns nasty when a lawyer (Gregory Peck) defends a black man framed for a crime he didn’t commit. The film cleverly tells several stories: the court drama, the wider race-relations issues of the American South, and also the mystery of “Boo” Radley, the unseen neighbour who ends up playing a significant role in their lives.

Gregory Peck is fantastic as Atticus Finch, the kind, calm and intelligent lawyer and father of Scout (the narrator) and Jim. Their friend “Dill” is also excellent. These three kids (Mary Badham, Phillip Alford and John Megna respectively) deliver some of the best child acting I've ever seen. You watch their youthful innocence being lost as they learn about the dangers and prejudices of the world around them. Sadder than this is that the story seems more relevant than ever in Donald Trump’s America.